1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a Cu/Zn/Al catalyst and a method for preparing same. More particularly, it relates to a Cu/Zn/Al catalyst including copper particles having high surface area, which is prepared by dissolving precursors of copper, zinc and aluminum in an aqueous-organic mixture solution and precisely controlling the temperature of the aqueous-organic mixture solution and has excellent activity, and a method for preparing same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Cu/Zn/Al catalyst consisting of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and aluminum (Al) is used for methanol synthesis (C. Busetto et al. Journal of Catalysis, 1984, 85, 260-266.), production of hydrogen through reforming of methanol (John P. Breen and Julian R. H. Ross, Catalysis Today, 1999, 51, 521-533.), production of alcohol by hydrogenation of organic acid or ester (Sriram Varadarajan and Dennis J. Miller, Biotechnology Progress, 1999, 15, 845-854; Sung Min Kim et al. Catalysis Communications, 2011, 12, 1328-1332.), or the like.
These reactions are studied to produce fuel that can replace petroleum. High activity of the Cu/Zn/Al-based catalyst is a prerequisite for ensuring economic efficiency in application of the reactions to large-scale processes.
The Cu/Zn/Al catalyst is mainly prepared by co-precipitation. The reaction activity of the catalyst is proportional to the surface area of copper, which is one of the active components of the catalyst. The existing catalyst prepared by the co-precipitation method has a copper surface area of 5-20 m2/g and has a catalytic activity corresponding thereto. Accordingly, it is an important issue to increase the surface area of copper in order to enhance the activity of the catalyst.
In addition to the co-precipitation method, homogeneous precipitation was also used to synthesize the Cu/Zn/Al-based catalyst including copper particles having high surface area. In this case, a catalyst with high activity could be obtained by synthesizing copper particles of relatively small size.
The inventors of the present disclosure have improved the existing homogeneous precipitation method for improving catalytic activity. They have found out that a Cu/Zn/Al catalyst prepared by dissolving precursors of copper, zinc and aluminum in an aqueous-organic mixture solution and precisely controlling the temperature of the aqueous-organic mixture solution includes copper particles having high surface area.